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HOW GOD BLESSES US WHEN OUR VEHICLE BREAKS DOWN

 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all."                                                         Psalm 34:19 

The last couple of months were the most trying times of my life.

During this period of a couple of weeks when our SUV had starting problems, which seemed like a lifetime?

After we paid a local shop $1,500.00 who was suppose to be experts in fuel starting problems. They never fixed it right and our vehicle kept breaking down repeatedly. The bottom line they did not know how to fix Mercedes, they just wanted more money to fix other things like a tune up, even though I knew I just paid for a tune up that came with 100,000 mile spark plugs. So I did not trust them to touch our vehicle anymore.

I could not understand how this mechanic shop wanted to do other work on our vehicle that had nothing to do with the starting problem when they never fixed the problem we came to them in the first place. 

I would receive numerous phone calls daily from my wife when she was driving that our vehicle just died again while on the freeway or in the city streets.

There were times while she was broke down on the freeway that she would literally cry while talking to me on the phone, telling me that she knows God is taking care of us, it’s just she is tired, and hot from the weather.

It broke my heart to hear her cry on the phone, having only one vehicle; I knew there was a divine reason for this. I had to turn my eyes toward God for help.

 I knew that God will never leave us or forsake us if we do it His way,

What is His way?

God never said to be thankful for everything; He said to find something in everything to be thankful for.

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

So I would tell my wife on the phone how God is blessing us through this, that God allowed our vehicle to die where many other people had helped us push our vechicle to safety countless  times or that there were no on coming cars coming at her at highway speed so that they could safely stop behind her.

I had put our Ministry on the back window of our vehicle that was constantly breaking down. It read: “WOWFaith Ministries- A place of permanent blessings and favors”

I struggled with the enemy who tried to tell me that I should take these words off of the back of my vehicle; he was telling me what others would think about God if all they see is your vehicle breaking down everywhere you went. I had a meeting with my family and I told them we know that God will always bless us and others if we do it His way, I just don’t want no one who has never believed in God to see our slogan on the window and say look there is no God, why would He allow them their ministry vehicle to break down, so I asked my daughter if I should take if off the window so that others would not lose faith in God. She firmly said no, that God has always blessed us and He is blessing us now, we just don’t see it yet. I went into my office and I shed tears of joy that my daughter had such great faith. It's funny how I seemed more concerned if someone would not understand how God works and might lose faith that their is a God, so we kept the words on the back of our SUV until we took it in for a trade in which was only a few days away.

I never ask God why things happen to me, I only ask Him to let me see what is He trying to show me and to thank Him for blessing me through this.

I started to thank God for taking care of my family and thank Him for their protection and for bringing them home safely, and thanked Him for the new vehicle that He gave us even though at the time I did not see anything in the physical world but our older vehicle breaking down over a dozen times during this time.

Even though I knew I owed way too much money on our older SUV, and that we were financially upside down as they call it in the car buying world.

I knew that we cannot please God without faith,

So I acted on faith that God wanted me to try and get a new vehicle and to use our ten year old SUV as a trade in even though I knew we owed too much money on it.

The bottom line, after we found a car that we liked,

The dealership there had a wonderful lady named Lilly,

She not only made everything work, she took our ten year old vehicle as a trade in, and we got a one year old vehicle with a 100,000 mile warranty.

I always share with people that a blessing to me is not only receiving a blessing but in the perfect timing of it.

*******

I am writing this article today which is June 13, 2008, and I wanted to share a quote from the local television news clip today from KCAL 9 news about using a SUV as a trade in, let alone one where we owed thousands more than the value of using ours as a trade in.

Actual word for word news transcript

June 13, 2008 Friday

KCAL 9 News

Reporter- Dave Lopez, : Hobbies, fades, preferences, I mean until gas went crazy everyone wanted a SUV didn’t they?

Now go ahead, try and trade one in.

Interviewing man in SUV: “I took it to the dealer and they (asked me, please) quietly showed me the exit.

So there’s not much I can do about that these days, I’m stuck with it.”

Reporter Dave Lopez- Reporting live from South Orange County Dave Lopez, KCAL News

*******

We have to understand that we are not stuck in our present circumstances, including the SUV that we are currently driving. If we turn to God, He will turn every thing around in our favor.

You see, it’s not about asking God why are these adversities happening to us, it’s about turning our eyes toward God and thanking Him for blessing us through our troubled times, before we see any evidence of it.

Just like most people, every time that I had ever taken our vehicle in for repairs, the shop had the experience and the integrity to fix it right. I knew after we paid this mechanic shop a lot of money and they still could not fix our vehicle right that God was trying to point me in a new direction. I prayed about it and I knew He wanted me to trade in our old vehicle.

I learned a long time ago to do it God's way and be obedient and we traded our vehicle in just a little over a month ago, now gas prices have even soared much higher where trading in a SUV is much harder.

If the mechanic had fixed our SUV right the first day, then we probably would not have traded it in during this time, and then by the time we did, it would have been much harder down the road.

I have always said that a blessing is not just receiving the blessing but in the perfect timing of receiving it.

 "A SPECIAL THANKS TO LILLY"

We owe a special thanks to Lilly who not only got us into a new car, but she worked everything out in finance and even took our SUV even though we were upside down with our trade in. May God bless Lilly and her family throughout their destiny for being used as a blessing to me and my family. God is using her in a mighty way to bring glory to His Name.

*******

I know it's hard on you and your family when your vehicle breaks down, and you need to get to work or pick someone else up who is depending on you. Honestly it can seem like a hellish nightmare. I pray when this happens to you that you put all your trust in God by praying first and keep the faith, no matter what your going through. I promise you that God will move heaven and earth to bless you for your faith and trust in Him.

During the last day of our vehicle breaking down before I decided to trade it in. My wife drove me around so that I could see what the problem is, like I would know. Our vehicle broke down twice during this time and God sent two people to help me push the first time it died and He sent two other people the second time it broke down. I know that God will bless them and their loved ones for helping me in my time of need because I asked Him too. I happen to hurt my ankle while pushing our vehicle the second time and I had to have a cast put on my leg where I cannot go anywhere for a few months.

I learned instead of asking where's the blessing in that?

To ask what is the divine reason for this happening in my life.

In my book that I am almost finished, I share with the reader how God will always bless you and how to understand that there is always a divine reason why things happen to us and that there are no accidents or coincidence.

Just before this happened to me, not long ago I had asked God to help give me the time to finish my book and He did, and like John Lennon once said; "Life happens when your busy making plans" I soon got caught up with other things happening in my life instead of finishing the last part of my book.

So just a week before I got injured, I had asked God again to help me find the time to finish my book which is only a couple months away from completion if I had the time, other wise it is going to take me the rest of 2008. I told Him that it is hard for me to concentrate on writing when I have to be concerned with my wife and our car breaking down.

What did God do?

He gave my wife a new car,

We originally went to see if we could get into a car that was about five years old, but we found we could not use my older SUV for a trade in except on a newer car because of the money that we owed on it. It was then that I knew that God wanted to bless us with a much newer car with a 100,000 mile warranty.

God answered another prayer of mine that my daughter doesn't miss any classes in college while our vehicle was not operating properly. My daughter told me if our vehicle did not break down during this time, she would not have asked a friend of hers for a ride to school, but because of this she has discovered what a wonderful and kind gentleman he is.

What did God do for me?

He showed me He has a wonderful sense of humor.

God gave me the time to write that I had asked for by putting me in a leg cast for a few months, He knew it was the only way that would keep me still in one place for a while.

 And then the Spirit of God asked me,

Anything else?

I laughed as I looked at the cast on my leg and said,

Thank you, you answered my prayers again.

I think that's quite enough.

 "Everything comes from God alone, Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory." Romans 11:36 LB

 Reverend Michael Cartwright

God believes in you